Mine is my Bachmann New Haven light mountain. Looks great, runs good. DCC and sound converted, and pulls well (despite the reputation for not doing so). I love my Broadway New Haven PA's too...
Model: My SP black widow SD-7s and 9s and tiger stripe SD-7s. Look great (once the correct lights have been added) and run just as well. Real: Baldwin AS-S 616s, also in tiger stripes and black widow. I have the printed parts to build one in N scale, but I know just as soon as I finish it, Atlas or Kato will finally announce that they are releasing it in N.
Well, you better get cranking. A lot of folks are waiting. I have had plenty of that kind of luck. I kit bashed some FTs before IM and MT made them as well as a Kato powered USRA Mikado before they did, a Kato powered E5 before Kato, a 2-10-2 before Con Cor came out with one, Ten Wheelers, Atlantics, you name it, all available now.
One of my favorite locomotives is my bashed SP AC-9. Bet we will never see a manufacturer take this on.
Now, if you ask me what MY favorite locomotive is.... it's hard to pick, but if there is a 'signature locomotive' on my ATSF layout, it is the U36C. I got a photo of this 'as delivered' in the same month I rode on the Santa Fe in '72, so it was showroom fresh. I've done this model number now repeatedly, this is just the latest and greatest version.... 1) Trix U28 hand-painted with hand-mixed paint (about '73) 2) Trix U28 with Micro-scale decals, wire handrails, expanded radiator (about '78) 3) Same shell put on Kato U30 mechanism (about '88) 4) Entirely new shell fabricated from C-30-7 + U30 shells (2015) These units were the "Cover Girl" for the Santa Fe 1972 annual report, and also the subject of a Howard Fogg painting for UTLX right at the Chalendar "S" curve on my layout, so yeah.... this is the one.....a really dressed-up Kato U30C in there that pulls like a truck, dead silent, and smooth. If you're a Santa Fe fan, these were the first factory units delivered in the yellowbonnet, and yes they had black trucks and yellow step wells as-delivered. This also has one of Jim Hinds wonderful light packages in it with constant lighting and a Stratolite strobe that he researched to match the GE pattern. Meanwhile, over on the Hickory Valley, no doubt about it, it's the "Second #5", the Lima 2-6-0 I scratchbuilt off the top of the Atlas 2-6-0 chassis. Gearhead motor, tender drive, built from photos and the Lima drawings. 8x8 pickup in the tender adapted from Kato caboose trucks and gearhead motor make this the best-performing, best-looking small steam I own.
Mine are F3 or F7 units from Kato or Intermountain. I do not know why, but I have a soft spot for F units. It doesn't matter the road name either.
Favorite ever? B&Os EL class 2-8-8-0s. Favorite that I have a model of in N scale? Probably my Kato Mike / C&O K3 bash.
Ok so in 1:1 scale my favorite locomotives are N&W Class J for steam and EMD SD70ACE for diesel. in N scale my favorite locomotive is a HB-E300. It’s a commuter train found in Japan